Saw palmetto is a plant. Its ripe fruit is used to make medicine.
Saw palmetto is best known for its use in decreasing symptoms of an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hypertrophy, BPH). According to many research studies, it is effective for this use.
Saw palmetto is used for treating certain types of prostate infections. It is also sometimes used, in combination with other herbs, to treat prostate cancer.
Some people use saw palmetto for colds and coughs, sore throat, asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronic pelvic pain syndrome, and migraine headache. It is also used to increase urine flow (as a diuretic), to promote relaxation (as a sedative), and to enhance sexual drive (as an aphrodisiac).
Is Saw Palmetto Effective?
Saw palmetto can reduce the symptoms of an enlarged prostate, including frequent urination, painful urination, sudden urge to urinate, and inability to urinate. It can also decrease the need to urinate during the night, increase urine flow, and make it easier to empty the bladder completely. Saw palmetto seems to work about as well as some prescription medications, but it takes about one or two months of treatment before symptoms improve.
There isn’t enough information to know if saw palmetto is effective for the other conditions people use it for, including increasing breast size, as an aphrodisiac, to encourage hair growth, and to treat colds and coughs, sore throat, asthma, chronic bronchitis, migraine headache, and cancer. Some women use powdered fruit vaginally to increase muscle tone.
How Does Saw Palmetto Work?
Saw palmetto doesn’t shrink the overall size of the prostate, but it seems to shrink the inner lining that puts pressure on the tubes that carry urine.
Are There Safety Concerns?
Saw palmetto is LIKELY SAFE for most people. Side effects are usually mild. Some people have reported dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea. Some people have reported that saw palmetto causes impotence. However, these side effects do not seem to occur any more often with saw palmetto than with a sugar pill.
There is some concern that saw palmetto might cause liver or pancreas problems in some people. There have been two reports of liver damage and one report of pancreas damage in people who took saw palmetto. However, there is not enough information to know if saw palmetto was the actual cause of these side effects.
Saw palmetto is POSSIBLY SAFE when administered into the rectum appropriately for up to 30 days. However, it is not known if it is safe to use for longer periods of time.
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